Debbi21604

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Debbi21604 20 years, 1 month ago

Time for another update. On Monday, March 15, 2004 it will be 4 weeks since I had surgery. I can’t believe it! It has gone SO fast! I guess everyone is wanting to know “what’s happened since you got home!?” I have gone through some BIG struggles for me. I have been constantly starving! Or at least until recently. It was very hard when you are only on clear liquids to make this starving feeling go away! From the research that I have done, there are practically NONE out there that feel hungry at all! Most people say they aren’t hungry. Some even say they aren’t hungry for 3, 6, 9 months or EVER hungry again! This is what I was counting on – but didn’t get. All my diets in the past have failed because my willpower could not overcome my HUNGER. My Dr. has now told me that it’s not a matter of will power or just stopping eating. That’s like asking someone not to breath for 3 hours or not to pee for 3 days. That’s a matter of will power too and you don’t see people being able to do THAT!!!! So with obesity as a disease, you can’t expect to control your hunger either! So back to what happened since I have been home. I was so concerned about coming home and where I was going to sit and lay to be comfortable. Our bed is the mattress only and it sits on the floor of our room. I was concerned I was not going to be able to: 1) Lay flat 2) Get up and down from the floor. That brings me to the couch. Our couch is very soft and sits very low. Once you sit on it you sink in. My MIL has bad knees and she has trouble getting in and out of our couch so if she has trouble what was I going to do? When I walked in the door of our house, I find a recliner has been moved in, with sheet, blanket and towel (incase of accident). My husband is SO SWEET! Then, I come to find out, although I can’t go up stairs, he has also put our bed on its frame so I can get in and out easily! I was getting such good care! My mother-in-law was here for us. She had been taking care of my 2 & 4 yr old daughters while I was in the hospital. She stayed for an additional week after I got home. She kept telling me “you’re doing amazingly well! I just can’t believe it. You started taking over as soon as you got home!” I couldn’t drive, and I couldn’t bend over, but gradually I made it up and down the stairs and enlisted the help of my children to pick things up for me. So by the following Thursday afternoon, she went home. She stayed long enough to take and pick up the 4 yr old from school. The following Tuesdays was my 2 week check up and I was counting on being released to drive – which I was. So now 2 weeks have gone by and you’re probably wondering HOW WERE YOU?? I was fine. I was a bit sore and took my pain meds for 2 days after getting home, then cut the dose in half for another 2 days. After that, I didn’t need them anymore. I ended up with my period about 6 days PO and was well enough to bend around by then. I did have to wipe my bottom by putting a foot up on the toilet seat, but you have too whatever it takes to get the job done! J For the most part, it was life as normal only at a very slow pace. I cooked easy meals for my family. I had double batched before I went to the hospital and had lots in the freezer JUST for this occasion! At my 2-week check up, fully dressed, with shoes and 24oz of water already in me, I had lost 19 pounds – according to their scale. BUT At home, naked, first thing in the morning I had lost about 25 pounds. I told the Dr. that I have been keeping track of everything I do on FITDAY.COM and I had been taking in about 500 calories per day. He said that was GREAT! I also told him I was eating 2 medicine cups of cottage cheese. He said NOT great, cut it back to one. But I was still STARVING by this point. There was NO WAY I could do that! I also had moved myself to some soft mushy foods before I had Dr. okay. I was just SO HUNGRY. I started cottage cheese at about 9 days PO and scrambled eggs at 11 days PO. I was honest and told him this too. He said okay. I was expecting to get reprimanded and he didn’t. All he wanted to know was “how did it go down?” And it went down just fine. I didn’t have one single problem! It was then he moved me to Soft Mushy foods. I am still on soft mushy foods, but SOME of the things I’m eating aren’t so mushy until I chew them for 5 minutes. I have been stalled at my weight loss too. For almost a week I have been stuck at –30#. Some of the advice I got on chat was INCREASE calories because you have gone into starvation mode. But yesterday, I asked the Dr. and he said NO! Don’t do that. I am too soon PO and there is no need to do that. It’s a matter of simple math. Burn more calories than you eat and you WILL loose weight – PERIOD! He said stalls like this are normal and one morning I will wake up to find that I have lost another 5 pounds. I can’t express to everyone reading what kind of anxiety this gives, Dropping weight so fast at first and then stalling. Then he began talking about our bodies in shock, holding fluids, and many other things. But he said stay true to the course and it will start to fall off again. Part of me wonders if it will or am I just not burning enough calories and is this all I’m going to loose. I guess that’s a normal thought too! SO I’m NORMAL! I can now wear my wedding ring again. I haven’t been able to do that in 3 years! I am fitting in clothes that I haven’t worn in 2 yrs. I couldn’t be happier! Part of me knows it will come off, the other part is thinking the worst. I still have trouble sleeping on my left side, as this is where most of the work was done and it’s still tender when trying to sleep that way. I really can’t think of anything else to share. Its just been normal life, gradually picking up in pace. Feel Free to EMAIL me!

Debbi21604 20 years, 2 months ago

I know this is long, and its the same that is on my profile page, but some people wanted it posted here too. Everyone has been asking me to finish my update since I got home, so here it is! I got to the hospital slightly before 2:00 pm. The scheduled time. Shortly I was shown back to a private room to await surgery. In this room, I was checked over, with BP and temp. Allergies were confirmed and all remaining jewelry (my watch) I had to give to my DH. I slipped into a hospital gown – big enough for me, and dawned booties over my socks, which they let me keep. They informed us what room I would be transferred to after surgery, how long surgery would take, how long I would be in the recovery room etc. I received my IV then too. The anesthesiologist came in and talked about previous surgeries and what he would be doing with me. He also offered a sedative at that point, to help calm my nerves. I gladly accepted it as I had not gotten much sleep previously that night. I received the VERSED about 45 mins later, when I pushed the call button and asked if I was going to get it. We waited in that room for a little over 2 hours. I was wheeled down to the surgery room, where we entered a room bustling with people. I scooted over on the operating table and I thought to myself “this is really going to happen!” Some of you know, I was a bit worried about that because of stuffy sinus that I have had for 2 days. The chatters on line said as long as I wasn’t running a fever or had problems with my lung – which I wasn’t - I’d be fine. And I was! I talked a minute with the Anesthesiologist, he gave me oxygen, the nurse said pick a good dream – but I couldn’t think fast enough of one before the anesthesiologist told me “Good Night” and I told him “good night”. The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery. My surgery sleep was completely dreamless by the way. J I awoke in recovery to the nurses telling me where I was. This portion is a bit sketchy because I was surly fading in and out of consciousness. I remember them asking if I was nauseous. I said yes. I remember them telling me they gave me something for it and asking if it was better. I did this twice. Then I remember them telling me they were taking me to my room and wanted to know if I had someone with me. I said yes, my husband and they sent someone to get him. They came back and said there was no one out there and they would find him after we got to my room. So off we went. When I arrived in my room,(about 8:00pm) the nurse pushing the bed said, “There he is! This person must be here with you!” and my DH was there in my room waiting for me. I then transferred – BY MYSELF to the hospital bed in my room. I then had a conversation with my DH about what the Dr told him when he was done with surgery. I am told it went VERY smooth. Textbook case of how it is supposed to go!! My mouth was SO dry. I received a Mouth Swab, which helped A LOT! I then proceeded to INSIST that it was time to go for a walk. The CO2 gas pains were getting pretty strong and I knew the only way to work them out was by walking. SO I DID! By 9:00pm I was taking my first trip to the nurses station. DH on one side, nurses behind me. I think I would have kept going around the whole floor if the nurse hadn’t said, “I think we should turn around and go back.” I agreed it was a good idea. I slept a lot after that and DH went home because he had to be at work the next day and it was an hour trip. The night and next morning – which all run together when you are in the hospital, were NOT good ones. The constant waking with vitals doesn’t seem to let you sleep very long. You would think they could coordinate the “visits” to your room so that everyone who needs to do something to you all come in at the same time so you can get some good rest! By 4am I was in SO MUCH PAIN. It was from the CO2 gas that had traveled to my shoulder. Even the morphine I was taking could not TOUCH this pain!!! I cannot express in words or text just how excruciating this was. I was also beginning to have problems with my IV site. All the meds they were pushing down it, had caused it to become very sensitive to everything going in, even the plain lactated ringers. I received my last morphine injection at 7am. Then came the TRIP FROM HELL! It was to the radiology department at about 9am. The lady down there, was very insensitive. She didn’t seem to concerned that I had major abdominal surgery only 12 hours prior. When I got there, she told me that I needed to get up on the table. She pulled out a 8 in square step stool with a tall handle and placed it next to the table. Then she turned her back and left me to get up out of the wheel chair BY MYSELF. So I was trying to scoot to the edge of the wheel chair so I could stand. This was taking LOTS of time. I was in excruciating pain in my shoulder PLUS the surgery pain. She came over to me, and without asking, nor going slowly, grabbed the back of my left arm- the one that was in so much pain, and yanked me to my feet. I gasped for breath and clutched my stomach. I asked her how much time she has because I am moving so slowly. She responded by saying “I’m here until 2:30”. I walked over to the stool and got up upon it. I turned around, holding onto the handle. It was then I realized I would have to stand on tippy toes to get my rear on the table and she was no where near me. I got on the table and sat on the edge. She then informed me I needed to LAY FLAT. WHAT?!?!?!?!? I have not yet laid flat and don’t know if I can. She said I HAD to lay flat. Then left me again to get into that position BY MYSELF. I was trying to pick up my legs and get them on the table. I tried this for about 15 seconds, when she came over, grabbed both legs from under me and swung them up on the table. I SCREAMED OUT in PAIN and cluthched my stomach with the left arm and clutched my left shoulder with my right. So she says “now lay flat”. And she left me to do this BY MYSELF! Slowly, bawling, I was trying to get down to my elbows. She said, form the far side of the room, keep your knees bent it will take the strain off you your abdomon. Just about the time I had got to my elbows, she comes over, yanks my elbows out from under me and forces my shoulders to the table. I cried even harder. The crying was making the pain worse. I was clutching my shoulder with sobbing so hard. Then she said I need to move my HIPS more to the left. I was trying. VERY SLOWLY, but it wasn’t fast enough for her and she placed her hands on my side and SHOVED them over and said “that’s better.” She took the preliminary xray she needed to, and told me I would have to wait there until the Dr. came. I must have laid there for 10 minutes before the radiologist showed up. In the mean time, Dr. Steward showed up to see me (tracked me down). But I couldn’t even talk to him because I was in so much pain! When the Radiologist did come, she said, to the trainee in the room, we’ll tilt the table to raise her up. WELL YOU KNOW WHAT…. They could have had the table upright and lowered me to the laying down position! The radiologist part went Ok. Except they have you drink that stuff from a STRAW! After that was done, and the radiologist had left. The ‘nurse’ said I could get down. She walked away into another room AGAIN. I just stood there on the little platform. I had nothing to hold on to help myself down. She poked her head back into the room and said, “You can get down now!” I told her No I can’t could you come here so I can hold your shoulders. She said, “Oh, all right” very snide attitude. But she did come over and I did get down. She sent someone else out into the hall to retrieve my wheel chair, and someone had removed it from the hall. While they tracked down another, she placed a sheet over a chair and told me to sit and wait, then left the room. By the time I SLOWLY sat down in that chair BY MYSELF, I no sooner got down, than the wheel chair showed up. So what was her response…. “you can get in the wheel chair now.” However, I did have nice wheel chair transport person, and he helped me up, over to the wheelchair and back down into the chair. Then we were off to my room again. He was very gentle going over the “bumps”. I got to my room and into bed. I don’t remember what happened after that. I must have fallen asleep for awhile. Then lunch came into the room and the dietary person set one on my stand. I looked at her and asked, is this mine?? She confirmed her list, and said yes. No one told me. Not the nurse, not the Dr. No one ever said I could start to eat, so I left it sit there thinking it was a mistake. About an hour later, an aid came in and asked if I was nauseous because I hadn’t eaten. I said, I think it’s a mistake, because no one ever told me I could have anything yet. He said, he’d BRB, the nurse came with him and said she was Sorry. She should have told me. The doctor gave me clearance about 2 hours ago! So that means, I could have water for the past 2 hours, yet no one told me I could!!! Now I figure, the portion control was all set and made for a person who has had this surgery. NOT!!!! The servings were standard sizes for ‘diabetic liquid diet’. The jell-o was sf, the juice cut 50% with water, and a bowl of broth. I was SO afraid to eat. I ate so slowly, that it was ALMOST gone by the time they brought another tray around for dinner! By dinnertime, the pain in my shoulder had finally left me. The nurse ended up removing the IV completely and I finally got oral pain meds (Lortab) at 2:30pm. Wednesday morning, the doctor came in asked how the liquids were going down. I told him, they were going DOWN and not coming back UP. He smiled and said I think you can go home. So we arranged it for evening when my DH got off of work. And I was discharged about 6:30pm. The trip home was HELL. The last pain meds were at 5pm. They repeat every 4 hours, but wear off in only 3 hours. Bye the time transportation came to wheel me to the front door it was 7:15. There was now, no way we were going to make the hour trip home and make it to Wal-Mart in time to fill the prescription so we had to find a pharmacy to fill it. That took another 30 minutes. By then, the pain meds had worn off and I hurt the entire way home. That about raps up the beginning of this roller coater ride. Now I’m home and we’ll see what happens!!!

Debbi21604 20 years, 2 months ago

I'm HOME!!! And all went well! I will post more at a later date when I'm feeling a bit better.

Jillyfish 20 years, 2 months ago

Debbi had surgery today lets all wish her a speedy recovery!!! Way to go honey youre done!!!

Cindy J. 20 years, 2 months ago

Debbi, good luck and I know you will be successful. You have come a long way and are an inspiration to many of us yet to cross over to the losing side! Be sure to let us know how you are doing! God Bless!

davidl 20 years, 2 months ago

Debbie..as you crossover to the losing side, you will be thought of by each and everyone of us in the OH chatroom, and in our prayers as well. Just think of the many wonderful changes that are about to occur in your life, and how much better they will be for it. Good luck today, and God speed. David Wiederich

Teresa M. 20 years, 2 months ago

Debbi, Good Luck and may you have a speedy recovery

Amber W. 20 years, 2 months ago

Debbi, I will be praying for you tomorrow as you begin your new journey. I have surgery with Dr. Steward in March and can't wait to join you as a loser. Remember that you are in safe hands and God won't let anything happen that wasn't already planned even before your birth.

Amber W. 20 years, 2 months ago

Teresa M. 20 years, 2 months ago

Good Luck and may you have a speedy recovery